What’s new & noteworthy on DVD/Blu-ray – January 29, 2013

This week offers up a nice mix of blockbusters, catalog titles, TV-on-DVD releases, and some gems you might not be familiar with. Take a look!

Hotel Transylvania – Adam Sandler’s animated take on a hotel where monsters are the guests and humans are the outcasts was a pretty big hit at the box office, so now’s the time to check it out and see if it’s as fun as the box office made it appear to be.

Seven Psychopaths – From the writer/director of In Bruges and The Guard, Seven Psychopaths is one of those crime/killing/kidnapping/comedy flicks that features a great cast. With Christopher Walken, Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, and Sam Rockwell in the cast, you know you’re in for a pretty good time.

Downton Abbey: Season 3 – “There’s no way I’ll like Downton Abbey. No way.” That was pretty much my thought process going into watching PBS’s runaway hit TV series on Blu-ray. Well, I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong, and in this case, I was DEAD WRONG. Downton Abbey isn’t just good, it’s really, really good. Despite its period trappings and societal drama backbone, the show lives and dies on a number of things, and it does them all superbly. The acting is top-notch, from the main characters down to the day players. The scripts are excellent, and the characters are completely engrossing. Season Three is now available on Blu-ray and DVD, and I know myself and many other fans are thrilled.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 – The Dark Knight Returns is one of the greatest, most popular, and most historically important graphic novels in comics history. Coming out in the 1980s, it revolutionized the comics industry and changed the entire landscape of comics. As an animated film (in two parts) not only does Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 perfectly capture Frank Miller’s visual style, but the tone and feel of the book is present throughout. This isn’t a watered down kids’ film, but a grim and gritty animated feature.

The Cold Light of Day – Despite some pretty heavy trailer rotation last year, this movie starring Bruce Willis and this summer’s Superman in The Man of Steel, Henry Cavill, was DOA at the box office. I haven’t seen it yet, but check out the trailer below. You have to admit, it looks like a serviceable action thriller at the very least.

The Duellists - The Duellists is best known for being Ridley Scott’s first film, and it turns out it’s pretty well-polished first-time effort. At first I thought that it didn’t showcase a lot of the trademark Scott-isms film fans would come to know and love. Then I realized, it’s actually very muych a true Ridley Scott, only it captures everything I don’t like about his filmmaking. It’s too long, too self-serious, too boring, and has no sense of humor whatsoever. Like so many of Scott’s films, it looks great but it has no soul, no real emotion. The only piece that shines bright is Keith Carradine, whose performance is the only one you can really latch on to and get any sort of emotional connection with.

Paranormal Activity 4 – Another one I haven’t had the chance to take in yet, but if you’ve seen the first three, you know what to expect. This time around, the action shifts to a new family for the first time, but also has ties to the first three movies. I have to admit that I like these films overall, even if I’m not sure that the series hasn’t run its course.

— Also available on Blu-ray and DVD: atmospheric (and quite excellent) horror film The Awakening comes to DVD and Blu-ray; The BBC’s (superior) version of Heroes returns to DVD with Misfits: Season 2; and Nickelodeon brings us a blast from the past with Hey Arnold: Season 3. —